Dynamic configuration and use of wireless base stations in a network

ABSTRACT

According to one configuration, a wireless communication system includes antenna hardware, radio communication hardware, and a controller. The controller defines wireless sectors of coverage and configures them dynamically depending on network conditions. The radio communication hardware is coupled to the antenna hardware. The antenna hardware includes multiple antenna elements to wirelessly communicate in a network environment. During operation, the controller generates configuration settings to control a configuration of the radio communication hardware and the antenna hardware. The controller applies the configuration settings to the radio communication hardware to define corresponding wireless coverage provided by one or more software defined sectors in multiple base stations in a network environment. The one or more instantiated base stations (as indicated by the configuration settings) provide multiple communication devices in the network environment access to a remote network such as the Internet.

BACKGROUND

Conventional wireless networks typically include one or more wirelessbase stations to provide mobile communication devices access to a remotenetwork such as the Internet. During operation, conventional basestations are configured to provide wireless coverage in an allocatedportion of a geographical region.

For example, a first base station in a wireless communication system canbe physically configured to provide wireless coverage between a 0 to 70degree sector; a second (sector) base station in the wirelesscommunication system can be configured to provide wireless coverage(sector) in a 70 to 160 degree sector; and so on.

In such an instance, antenna hardware associated with the first basestation is physically mounted in an appropriate manner to providewireless coverage between 0 and 70 degrees in the geographical region;antenna hardware associated with the second base station is physicallymounted in an appropriate manner to provide wireless coverage between 70and 160 degrees in the geographical region; and so on.

In this manner, multiple base stations can be configured to providecoverage in a particular geographical region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

There are deficiencies associated with conventional techniques ofproviding wireless connectivity to users. For example, each conventionalbase station is typically implemented to support wireless communicationsin a predetermined, fixed region. In order to change coverage of awireless access point, the base station and/or a respective antennadevice must be physically modified to cover the newly allocated wirelessregion. It is a time-consuming endeavor to re-design and physicallyinstall updated base stations and antenna devices to accommodateever-changing network conditions.

Additionally, according to strict implementation standards and use ofavailable wireless frequencies, each wireless access point is able toprovide limited wireless output power. This disclosure further includesthe observation that if the coverage region supported by a respectivewireless access point is large, the effective wireless power tocommunicate with communication devices is quite limited whenimplementing an omni-directional antenna.

Embodiments herein provide novel ways of providing improved wirelesscommunications to one or more mobile communication devices. Certainembodiments herein include dynamic configuration of software-definedsectors of wireless base stations in a network environment.

More specifically, a communications system includes base stationcontroller hardware, radio communication hardware, and antenna hardwareto communicate with one or more communication devices in a networkenvironment. In one embodiment, the base station controller isinstantiated in the radio communication hardware. To supportcommunications, the base station controller hardware generatesconfiguration settings to control the radio communication hardwarecoupled to the antenna hardware. In one embodiment, the configurationsettings indicate one or more (virtual) base stations to be instantiatedby the radio communication hardware. The antenna hardware includesmultiple antenna elements to wirelessly communicate (transmit andreceive wireless signals) in the network environment. The base stationcontroller hardware applies the configuration settings to theconfigurable radio communication hardware to define correspondingwireless coverage (such as angle of coverage, communication range withrespect to a base station, etc.) to be provided by each of multiple basestations in a network environment. In one embodiment, each correspondingregion of wireless coverage is a software defined sector.

Subsequent to being instantiated, the multiple base stations (asconfigured by the base station controller hardware) provide multiplecommunication devices in the network environment access to a remotenetwork.

In one embodiment, in addition to defining the one or more base stationsin a network environment, the base station controller hardware producesthe configuration settings to indicate a respective grouping of theantenna elements assigned for use by each of the multiple base stations.In accordance with the configuration settings, the radio communicationhardware provides connectivity between the (virtual) base stations andrespective groupings of antenna elements.

The configuration settings are adjustable to redefine base stations andcorresponding wireless coverage in the wireless network environment.Accordingly, one embodiment herein includes modifying the configurationsettings (number of base stations and corresponding wireless coverage)depending on network conditions.

If desired, at least portions of the wireless coverage provided by themultiple base stations as defined by the configuration settings arenon-overlapping with respect to each other. For example, the basestation controller hardware controls a first wireless base station toprovide wireless coverage in a first region; the base station controllercontrols a second wireless base station to provide wireless coverage ina second region; the base station controller hardware controls a thirdwireless base station to provide wireless coverage in a third region; soon.

In accordance with further embodiments, the base station controllerhardware generates the configuration settings to define attributes ofthe multiple base stations and corresponding wireless coverage dependingon locations of multiple communication devices in the networkenvironment. For example, the base station controller hardware can beconfigured to define the number of different base station regionsdepending on one or more attributes such as a number of communicationdevices to be serviced, density of communication devices in each ofmultiple regions to be serviced, wireless bandwidth requirements of thecommunication devices, locations of the mobile communication devices,etc.

To generate configuration settings, the base station controller hardwarefurther performs operations of: selecting a first grouping of antennaelements from the antenna hardware to provide connectivity tocommunication devices in a first wireless coverage region in the networkenvironment; assigning the first grouping of antenna elements to a firstbase station of the radio communication hardware that uses the firstgrouping of antenna elements to communicate with the communicationdevices in the first wireless coverage region; selecting a secondgrouping of antenna elements from the antenna hardware to provideconnectivity to communication devices in a second wireless coverageregion in the network environment; and assigning the second grouping ofantenna elements to a second base station of the radio communicationhardware.

The base station controller hardware then applies the configurationsettings to the radio communication hardware to provide the assignedcoverage. As previously discussed, the configuration settings defineconnectivity between the base station controller hardware and groupingsof antenna elements. In one embodiment, the base station controllerhardware: i) applies the configuration settings to the radiocommunication hardware to provide connectivity between the first basestation and the first grouping of antenna elements; and ii) applies theconfiguration settings to the radio communication hardware to provideconnectivity between the second base station and the second grouping ofantenna elements. In this manner, the base station controller hardwarecan be configured to provide dynamic connectivity to multiplecommunication devices in a network environment depending on networkconditions. As previously discussed, portions of the first wirelesscoverage region and the second wireless coverage region can benon-overlapping with respect to each other.

In addition to selecting configuration settings and different regions ofwireless coverage, the base station controller hardware as discussedherein can be configured to select additional operating parameters suchas one or more carrier frequencies to be used by each of theinstantiated base stations. For example, in one embodiment, the basestation controller hardware instantiates a first (virtual) base stationin the radio communication hardware to wirelessly communicate from afirst group of the antenna elements over a first group of one or morecarrier frequencies; the base station controller hardware operates asecond (virtual) base station of the multiple wireless base stations towirelessly communicate from a second group of the antenna elements overa second group of one or more carrier frequencies; and so on. In oneembodiment, there is no common frequency present in both the first groupof carrier frequencies and the second group of carrier frequencies. Inother words, if desired, the carrier frequency use among base stationsis non-overlapping.

In accordance with alternative embodiments, the different base stationscan be configured to share use of one or more carrier frequencies.

As previously discussed, conditions of a respective network environmentcan change over time. In accordance with further embodiments, toaccommodate ever-changing network environment conditions (such as changein number of users, change in density of user sin a wireless region,bandwidth requirements, etc.), the base station controller hardwareredefines use of the radio communication hardware and antenna hardwareto provide different wireless coverage in the network environmentdepending on the network conditions. Thus, via the base stationcontroller hardware, embodiments herein include: dynamically adjustingthe configuration settings applied to the radio communication hardwareto change a number of the multiple base stations instantiated by theradio communication hardware over time.

In accordance with still further embodiments, operations of generatingconfiguration settings to control the radio communication hardware caninclude: i) producing the configuration settings to indicate a firstportion of the antenna elements assigned to a first base station ofmultiple base stations instantiated by the base station controllerhardware, ii) producing the configuration settings to indicate a secondportion of the antenna elements assigned to a second base station of themultiple base stations instantiated by the base station controllerhardware, and so on.

Further embodiments herein include controlling the first portion of theantenna elements assigned to the first instantiated base station totransmit at a same maximum wireless power level as the second portion ofthe antenna elements assigned to the second instantiated base station.Thus, instantiation of more base stations enables the radiocommunication hardware to transmit communications at an overall higherpower density in the region.

In accordance with further embodiments, the base station controllerhardware is operable to produce first configuration information todefine a first grouping of base stations and corresponding firstwireless coverage, the first configuration settings indicating differentgroupings of antenna elements selected from available antenna hardwareto provide first wireless services; apply the first configurationinformation to the antenna hardware to provide the first wirelessservices in the wireless network environment; detect a change in networkconditions; produce second configuration information to define a secondgrouping of base stations and corresponding second wireless coverage,the second configuration settings indicating different groupings ofantenna elements selected from the available antenna hardware to providesecond wireless services; and apply the second configuration informationto the antenna hardware to provide the second wireless services in thenetwork environment.

In one embodiment, the first grouping of base stations specifies adifferent number of base stations than the second grouping of basestations.

In accordance with further embodiments, the first wireless coverage isdifferent than the second wireless coverage.

Yet further embodiments herein include detecting an increased number ofmobile communication devices in a wireless network environment andproducing the second configuration information to accommodate theincreased number of mobile communication devices. Further embodimentsherein can include detecting a decreased number of mobile communicationdevices in a wireless network environment and producing the secondconfiguration information to accommodate the decreased number of mobilecommunication devices.

In accordance with still further embodiments, the antenna hardware isdisposed at a single, central location in the wireless networkenvironment.

Embodiments herein are useful over conventional techniques. For example,as previously discussed, the dynamic configuration of radiocommunication hardware and corresponding antenna hardware provide moreefficient use of wireless resources in a network environment.

Note that any of the resources as discussed herein can include one ormore computerized devices, mobile communication devices, servers, basestations, wireless communication equipment, communication managementsystems, workstations, user equipment, handheld or laptop computers, orthe like to carry out and/or support any or all of the method operationsdisclosed herein. In other words, one or more computerized devices orprocessors can be programmed and/or configured to operate as explainedherein to carry out the different embodiments as described herein.

Yet other embodiments herein include software programs to perform thesteps and operations summarized above and disclosed in detail below. Onesuch embodiment comprises a computer program product including anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium (i.e., any computerreadable hardware storage medium) on which software instructions areencoded for subsequent execution. The instructions, when executed in acomputerized device (hardware) having a processor, program and/or causethe processor (hardware) to perform the operations disclosed herein.Such arrangements are typically provided as software, code,instructions, and/or other data (e.g., data structures) arranged orencoded on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as anoptical medium (e.g., CD-ROM), floppy disk, hard disk, memory stick,memory device, etc., or other a medium such as firmware in one or moreROM, RAM, PROM, etc., or as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), etc. The software or firmware or other such configurations canbe installed onto a computerized device to cause the computerized deviceto perform the techniques explained herein.

Accordingly, embodiments herein are directed to a method, system,computer program product, etc., that supports operations as discussedherein.

One embodiment includes a computer readable storage medium and/or systemhaving instructions stored thereon to facilitate dynamic implementationof base stations. The instructions, when executed by computer processorhardware, cause the computer processor hardware (such as one or moreco-located or disparately processor devices) to: generate configurationsettings to control radio communication hardware coupled to antennahardware, the antenna hardware including multiple antenna elements towirelessly communicate in a network environment; apply the configurationsettings to the radio communication hardware to define correspondingwireless coverage provided by multiple base stations in a networkenvironment; and via the multiple base stations, provide multiplecommunication devices in the network environment access to a remotenetwork.

Another embodiment includes a computer readable storage medium and/orsystem having instructions stored thereon to facilitate dynamicimplementation of base stations. The instructions, when executed bycomputer processor hardware, cause the computer processor hardware (suchas one or more co-located or disparately processor devices) to: producefirst configuration information to define a first grouping of basestations and corresponding first wireless coverage, the firstconfiguration settings indicating different groupings of antennaelements selected from available antenna hardware to provide firstwireless services; apply the first configuration information to theantenna hardware to provide first wireless services in a wirelessnetwork environment; detect a change in network conditions; producesecond configuration information to define a second grouping of basestations and corresponding second wireless coverage, the secondconfiguration settings indicating different groupings of antennaelements selected from the available antenna hardware to provide secondfirst wireless services; and apply the second configuration informationto the antenna hardware to provide the second wireless services in thenetwork environment. The ordering of the steps above has been added forclarity sake. Note that any of the processing steps as discussed hereincan be performed in any suitable order.

Other embodiments of the present disclosure include software programsand/or respective hardware to perform any of the method embodiment stepsand operations summarized above and disclosed in detail below.

It is to be understood that the system, method, apparatus, instructionson computer readable storage media, etc., as discussed herein also canbe embodied strictly as a software program, firmware, as a hybrid ofsoftware, hardware and/or firmware, or as hardware alone such as withina processor (hardware or software), or within an operating system or awithin a software application.

As discussed herein, techniques herein are well suited for use in thefield of supporting different wireless services. However, it should benoted that embodiments herein are not limited to use in suchapplications and that the techniques discussed herein are well suitedfor other applications as well.

Additionally, note that although each of the different features,techniques, configurations, etc., herein may be discussed in differentplaces of this disclosure, it is intended, where suitable, that each ofthe concepts can optionally be executed independently of each other orin combination with each other. Accordingly, the one or more presentinventions as described herein can be embodied and viewed in manydifferent ways.

Also, note that this preliminary discussion of embodiments herein (BRIEFDESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS) purposefully does not specify everyembodiment and/or incrementally novel aspect of the present disclosureor claimed invention(s). Instead, this brief description only presentsgeneral embodiments and corresponding points of novelty overconventional techniques. For additional details and/or possibleperspectives (permutations) of the invention(s), the reader is directedto the Detailed Description section (which is a summary of embodiments)and corresponding figures of the present disclosure as further discussedbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example diagram illustrating a wireless network environmentand dynamic operation of same according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 2 is an example diagram illustrating generation of firstconfiguration settings according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 3 is an example diagram illustrating a first implementation of aconfigurable wireless network according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 4 is an example diagram illustrating generation of secondconfiguration settings according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 5 is an example diagram illustrating a second implementation of aconfigurable wireless network according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram illustrating generation of thirdconfiguration settings according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 7 is an example diagram illustrating a third implementation of aconfigurable wireless network according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 8 is an example diagram illustrating example computer architectureoperable to execute one or more operations according to embodimentsherein.

FIGS. 9-10 are example diagrams illustrating methods according toembodiments herein.

FIG. 11 is an example diagram illustrating an transceiver interfaceaccording to embodiments herein. The foregoing and other objects,features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing more particular description of preferred embodiments herein,as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like referencecharacters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. Thedrawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead beingplaced upon illustrating the embodiments, principles, concepts, etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with general embodiments, a wireless communication systemincludes antenna hardware, radio communication hardware, and acontroller. The controller defines the wireless sectors and configuresthem dynamically depending on network conditions. The radiocommunication hardware is coupled to the antenna hardware. The antennahardware includes multiple antenna elements to wirelessly communicate ina network environment. During operation, the controller generatesconfiguration settings to control a configuration of the radiocommunication hardware and the antenna hardware. The controller appliesthe configuration settings to the radio communication hardware to definecorresponding wireless coverage provided by one or more software definedsectors in a network environment via instantiated multiple base station.The one or more instantiated base stations (as indicated by theconfiguration settings) provide multiple communication devices in thenetwork environment access to a remote network such as the Internet.

Now, more specifically, FIG. 1 is an example diagram illustrating awireless network environment and dynamic implementation of differentbase station configurations according to embodiments herein.

In this example embodiment, the communication system in networkenvironment 100 includes base station controller hardware 140, radiocommunication hardware 130, and antenna hardware 150 to support wirelesscommunications with one or more communication devices (e.g., handheldmobile communication devices, fixed dish antenna communication devices,etc.) in network environment 100.

As further discussed below, each of the base station controller hardware140, radio communication hardware 130, etc., executes softwareinstructions to carry different functions.

Note that, in one embodiment, the controller hardware 140 isinstantiated in the radio communication hardware 130 or separatededicated radio communication hardware.

Antenna hardware 150 can be configured to include multiple antennaelements A11, A12, A13, . . . , A21, A22, A23, . . . , A61, A62, A63,A64, A65, and A66 to support bi-directional communications in anyangular direction.

In the present example, the antenna hardware 150 includes a 6×6 array ofantenna elements. Note that use of a 6×6 array of antenna elements areshown by way of non-limiting example only. The antenna hardware 150 caninclude any sized array of antenna elements.

In one embodiment, the antenna hardware 150 is configured as a panel ofantenna elements.

Each antenna element Axy (where x=row, y=column) in the antenna hardware130 is capable of transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Asfurther discussed below, different groupings of antenna elements can beassigned to provide different angular regions of wireless coverage(a.k.a., sectors) in a respective wireless network.

In one embodiment, the antenna hardware 130 is disposed at a single,central location in the wireless network environment. The antennahardware 130 supports transmission and receipt of wirelesscommunications in any angular direction. As further discussed below,different groupings of the antenna elements support differentconfigurations of wireless coverage. Desired directivity and wirelesscoverage associated with a base station is achieved by combiningelements in an assigned antenna array (of antenna elements) in such away that emitted wireless signals at particular angles experienceconstructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. Beamforming can be used at both the transmitting andreceiving ends in order to achieve spatial selectivity.

In accordance with further embodiments, radio communication hardware 130includes configurable connection hardware 132 and configurable basestation hardware 134.

The ability to configure the radio communication hardware 130 andantenna hardware 150 enables the base station controller hardware 140 toadjust wireless services (such as size and number of regions of wirelesscoverage) without having to physically adjust the antenna elementsand/or base station hardware as is required by conventionalcommunication systems. If a current implementation of multiple basestations does not provide appropriate services to mobile communicationdevices, the base station controller hardware 140 appropriately modifiesthe configuration settings 110 to correct any shortcomings.

In this example embodiment, the configurable base station hardware 134includes any suitable resources such as computer processor hardware,data storage hardware, applications, software instructions, etc., inwhich to implement any of one or more (virtual) base stations 120 andcorresponding functionality.

Each base station can be configured to operate independently of theother base stations 120. As further discussed herein, each base stationcan be assigned any number of antenna elements associated with antennahardware 150 in order to provide desired wireless connectivity (transmitand receive capability) to respective users in a defined region ofwireless coverage. Each instantiated base station can be configured toprovide wireless connectivity via one or more dynamic sectors ofwireless coverage.

As its name suggests, the configurable connection hardware 132 providesconfigurable connectivity between the virtual base stations and theantenna hardware 150. More specifically, as discussed herein, each basestation is assigned one or more antenna elements for use to transmitand/or receive wireless communications from one or more communicationdevices.

To support wireless communications, the base station controller hardwaregenerates configuration settings 110 to control settings of the radiocommunication hardware 130 coupled to the antenna hardware 150. In oneembodiment, the configuration settings 110 indicate one or more(virtual) base stations to be instantiated by the radio communicationhardware 130.

As previously discussed, the antenna hardware 150 includes multipleantenna elements to wirelessly communicate (transmit and receivewireless signals) in the network environment 100. The base stationcontroller hardware 140 applies the configuration settings 110 to theconfigurable radio communication hardware to define correspondingwireless coverage (such as angle of coverage, communicationrange/distance with respect to a antenna hardware/base station, etc.) tobe provided by each of multiple base stations in the network environment100.

Subsequent to being instantiated, the multiple base stations (asconfigured by the base station controller hardware) provide differentgroupings of one or more communication devices in the networkenvironment access to a remote network 190 such as the Internet,cellular network, etc.

For example, via upstream communications, the mobile communicationdevices communicate with a respective base station. The base stationforwards the communications upstream through network 190 to a targetdestination such as server resource 195-1, server resource 195-2,communication device 195-, etc.

In a reverse direction (downstream direction), the base station receivescommunications directed to a respective communication device from serverresource 195-1, server resource 195-2, communication device 195-3, etc.The base station forwards the communications over a wireless link to arespective destination communication device.

In one embodiment, in addition to defining the one or more base stations120 to be implemented by the radio communication hardware 130, the basestation controller hardware 140 produces the configuration settings 110to indicate a respective grouping of the antenna elements in antennahardware 150 assigned for use by each of the multiple base stations 120.In accordance with the configuration settings 110, the configurableconnection hardware 132 provides connectivity between the (virtual) basestations and respective groupings of antenna elements. As previouslydiscussed, and as its name suggests, the settings of the configurableconnection hardware 132 can be selected to connect a respective basestation to any of one or more antenna elements associated with antennahardware 150.

As further discussed herein, the configuration settings 110 areadjustable over time to redefine base stations 120 instantiated by theconfigurable base station hardware 134 and corresponding providedwireless coverage in the wireless network environment 100. Accordingly,one embodiment herein includes modifying the configuration settings 110(such as number of base stations and corresponding wireless coverage)depending on network conditions.

In one embodiment, the base station controller 140 receives feedback 107from one or more resources such as base stations 120, communicationdevices, etc. The feedback 107 can indicate any suitable informationsuch as the number of mobile communication devices serviced in arespective wireless coverage region, number of communication devicesserviced by a respective base station, locations of communicationdevices, etc.

Based on the feedback, and detected changing network conditions, thebase station controller hardware 140 updates the configuration settings110 to provide efficient use of wireless resources (such as bandwidth)in the network environment 100.

The base stations can be configured to support different types ofcommunications such as LTE communications, WiFi™ communications, etc.

In one embodiment, each of the base stations 120 supports communicationover the CRBS (Citizen Radio Band Service) such as in the 3.5 GHz band(around 3550-3700 MHz). In such an instance, each base station isassigned a corresponding CBRS identifier value. The band can beconfigured to support different carrier frequencies; each base stationis assigned one or more of the carrier frequencies in the band tosupport wireless communications.

In accordance with still further embodiments, each base station can beconfigured to transmit wireless communications up to a maximum allowedEIRP (Effective Isotropic Radio Power) level for the given band.Increasing the number of instantiated base stations allows for anincreased amount of wireless power to communicate in a given regionserviced by the antenna hardware 150. For example, each instantiatedbase station can be configured to transmit at a same, maximum wirelesspower level as the second portion of the antenna elements assigned tothe second instantiated base station. Thus, instantiation of more basestations enables the radio communication hardware to transmitcommunications at an overall higher power density in the region.

If desired, at least portions of the wireless coverage (as indicated bywireless coverage regions 160) provided by the multiple base stations120 as defined by the configuration settings 110 are non-overlappingwith respect to each other. For example, the base station controllerhardware 140 can be configured to define a first wireless base station120-1 to provide wireless connectivity to a first group of communicationdevices 185-1 in a first wireless coverage region 160-1 such as in anangular range between 0-100 degrees; the base station controllerhardware 140 can be configured to define a second wireless base station120-2 to provide wireless connectivity to a second group ofcommunication devices 185-2 in the second wireless coverage region 160-2such as in an angular range between 80-190 degrees; the base stationcontroller hardware 140 can be configured to define a third wirelessbase station 120-3 to provide wireless connectivity to a third group ofcommunication devices 185-3 in a third wireless coverage region 160-3such as in an angular range between 170-280 degrees; so on.

In such an instance, either of the base station 120-1 and base station120-2 in the above example can be configured to provide connectivity tomobile communication devices in the angular range between 80 and 100degrees; either of the base station 120-2 and base station 120-3 in theabove example can be configured to provide connectivity to mobilecommunication devices in the angular range between 170 and 190 degrees;and so on.

In accordance with further embodiments, the base station controllerhardware 140 generates the configuration settings 110 to defineattributes of the multiple base stations and corresponding wirelesscoverage depending on locations and/or wireless usage associated withmultiple communication devices in the network environment. For example,the base station controller hardware 140 can be configured to define thenumber of different base station regions instantiated by theconfigurable base station hardware 134 and connectivity provided byconfigurable connection hardware 132 of radio communication harder 130depending on one or more attributes such as a number of communicationdevices to be serviced, density of communication devices in each ofmultiple regions to be provided wireless service, locations ofcommunication devices, bandwidth requirements of the communicationdevices, etc.

FIG. 2 is an example diagram illustrating generation of firstconfiguration settings according to embodiments herein.

At or around time T1, the base station controller hardware 140 generatesconfiguration settings 110-1 to provide first wireless services tomultiple (stationary or mobile) communication devices present in networkenvironment 100.

For example, in one embodiment, prior to generating configurationsettings 110-1, the base station controller hardware 140 determines howmany base stations to instantiate in network environment 100. In thisexample embodiment, assume that the base station controller hardware 140produces the configuration settings 110-1 to support three basestations, namely, base station 120-1, 120-2, and 120-3.

The number of base stations instantiated by the base station controllerhardware 140 depends on factors such as number of communication devicesin a wireless region, bandwidth to be provided to the communicationdevices, amount of interference, etc.

For each base station to be instantiated, the base station controller140 selects an appropriate grouping of antenna elements in antennahardware 150 to provide a corresponding group of communication devicesconnectivity to a remote network 190. The antenna elements in antennahardware 150 are located at different physical position in an array.Controlling phases of driving an assigned grouping of antenna elementsand controlling phases of received signs from the antenna elementsenables a respective base station to transmit and receive wirelesscommunications in a particular wireless coverage region.

More specifically, in this example embodiment, the base stationcontroller 140 selects a first grouping of antenna elements A12, A13,A14, and A15 from the antenna hardware 150 to provide wirelessconnectivity to communication devices 385-1 in a first wireless coverageregion 160-1 in the network environment 100; the base station controllerhardware 140 assigns the first grouping of antenna elements A12, A13,A14, and A15 and corresponding antenna interface 132-1 to first basestation 120-1 to enable the base station 120-1 to communicate with thecommunication devices 385-1 in the first wireless coverage region 160-1(first sector). In other words, the grouping of antenna elements isspecifically chosen to provide a desired wireless coverage pattern.

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-1 and its correspondingattributes (such as one or more resources in radio communicationhardware 130) as specified by the base station controller hardware 140provides hardware connectivity between the instantiated base station120-1 and corresponding antenna elements A12, A13, A14, and A15 assignedfor use by base station 120-2. Accordingly, via the antenna interface132-1, the instantiated base station 120-1 is able to transmit to andreceive communications from communication devices in wireless coverageregion 160-1 (between 0 and 180 degrees). Further in this exampleembodiment, the base station controller 140 selects a second grouping ofantenna elements A51, A61, and A62 of antenna hardware 150 to provideconnectivity to communication devices 385-2 in a second wirelesscoverage region 160-2 in the network environment 100; the base stationcontroller hardware 140 assigns the second grouping of antenna elementsA51, A61, and A62 and antenna interface 132-2 to base station 120-2 toenable the base station 120-2 to communicate with the communicationdevices 385-2 in the second wireless coverage region 160-2 (secondsector).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-2 (one or more resources inradio communication hardware 130) as specified by the base stationcontroller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity betweeninstantiated base station 120-2 and corresponding antenna elements A51,A61, and A62 assigned for use by base station 120-2. Accordingly, viathe antenna interface 132-2, the base station 120-2 is able to transmitto and receive communications from communication devices in wirelesscoverage region 160-2 (between 180 and 270 degrees).

Further in this example embodiment, the base station controller 140selects a third grouping of antenna elements A56, A65, and A66 ofantenna hardware 150 to provide connectivity to communication devices385-3 in a third wireless coverage region 160-3 in the networkenvironment 100; the base station controller hardware 140 assigns thethird grouping of antenna elements A56, A65, and A66 and antennainterface 132-3 to the base station 120-3 to enable the base station120-3 to communicate with the communication devices 385-3 in the thirdwireless coverage region 160-3 (third sector).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-3 (one or more resources inradio communication hardware 130) as specified by the base stationcontroller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity between basestation 120-3 and corresponding antenna elements A56, A65, and A66assigned for use by base station 120-3. Accordingly, via the antennainterface 132-3, the instantiated base station 120-3 is able to transmitto and receive communications from communication devices in wirelesscoverage region 160-3 (between 270 and 360 degrees).

In addition to selecting antenna elements and different regions ofwireless coverage, the base station controller hardware 140 as discussedherein can be configured to select additional operating parameters suchas one or more carrier frequencies to be used by each of theinstantiated base stations 120. The carrier frequencies can be selectedfrom a group of available carrier frequencies CF1, CF2, CF3, CF4, etc.As previously discussed, the carrier frequencies can be defined tosupport LTE or other communications over the CBRS band or any othersuitable band.

For example, in one embodiment, via configuration settings 110-1, thebase station controller hardware 140 generates configuration settings110-1 to indicate a first (virtual) base station 120-1 in the radiocommunication hardware 150 to wirelessly communicate from a first groupof the antenna elements A12, A13, A14, and A15 using allocated carrierfrequency CF1 and at a transmit level of 100% of a maximum possiblepower level; the base station controller hardware 140 generatesconfiguration settings 110-1 to indicate a second (virtual) base station120-2 in the radio communication hardware 150 to wirelessly communicatefrom a second group of the antenna elements A51, A61, and A62 usingallocated carrier frequency CF2 and at a transmit level of 100% of amaximum possible power level; the base station controller hardware 140generates configuration settings 110-1 to indicate a third (virtual)base station 120-3 in the radio communication hardware 150 to wirelesslycommunicate from a third group of the antenna elements A56, A65, and A66using allocated carrier frequency CF3 and at a transmit level of 75% ofa maximum possible power level.

In one embodiment, the maximum possible power level is defined by acommunication standard that sets the limit. In one embodiment, themaximum power level is 47 dBm per 10 MHz (Megahertz) of wirelesscoverage.

Note that the base station controller hardware 140 can be configured toassign a less than maximum power level to a base station (such as basestation 120-3 in this instance) in order to avoid or reduce interferencewith other base stations and communication devices in a particulardirection (such as between 270 and 360 degrees).

Note again that as an alternative to assigning different carrierfrequencies to each base station, further embodiments herein includeassigning the same one or more carrier frequencies for use in situationswhere the wireless coverage regions are generally non-overlapping.

FIG. 3 is an example diagram illustrating a first implementation of aconfigurable wireless network according to embodiments herein.

Subsequent to generation of the configuration settings 110-1, at oraround time T1, the base station controller hardware 140 or othersuitable resource applies the configuration settings 110-1 to the radiocommunication hardware 130 to provide the allocated wireless coverage asspecified by wireless coverage regions 160-1, 160-2, and 160-3 andcorresponding sector coverage angles.

As previously discussed, the configuration settings 110-1 definephysical connectivity between the base stations and different groupingsof antenna elements.

In this example embodiment, in accordance with the configurationsettings 110-1, the base station controller hardware 140 instantiatesbase station 120-1, base station 120-2, and base station 120-3 in theconfigurable base station hardware 134 of radio communication hardware130 as indicated by the configuration settings 134. As previouslydiscussed, the configuration settings 110-1 indicate the differentresources (such as computer processor hardware, memory, softwareinstructions, etc.) to be used to implement each of the (virtual) basestations.

Additionally, the base station controller hardware 140 or other suitableresource applies the configuration settings 110-1 to the configurableconnection hardware 132 of the radio communication hardware 130 toprovide the physical connectivity (as well as transmit/receivecapability) between the base stations and assigned groupings of antennaelements in antenna hardware 150. For example, via instantiation ofantenna interface 132-1 in configurable connection hardware 132, thebase station 120-1 is able to transmit and receive wirelesscommunications over assigned antenna elements A12, A13, A14, and A15;via instantiation of antenna interface 132-2 in configurable connectionhardware 132, the base station 120-2 transmits and receives wirelesscommunications over assigned antenna elements A51, A61, and A62; viainstantiation of antenna interface 132-3 via configurable connectionhardware 132, the base station 120-3 transmits and receives wirelesscommunications over assigned antenna elements A56, A65, and A66.

In this manner, the base station controller hardware 140 andcorresponding resources such as radio communication hardware 130 andantenna hardware 150 can be configured to support upstream anddownstream communications. For example, assigned antenna elements A12,A13, A14, and A15 convert wireless signals received from communicationdevices 385-1 to electrical communication signals. The antenna interface132-1 conveys the electrical communication signals (communications) tothe base station 120-1. The base station 120-1 transmits thecorresponding communications through network 190 to the appropriatedestination.

In a reverse direction, the base station 120-1 receives communicationsfrom one or more resources in network 190. Via paths defined by theinstantiated antenna interface 132-1, the base station 120-1 transmitsthe received communications to antenna elements A12, A13, A14, and A15that convert the received communications into wireless signalstransmitted in the wireless coverage region 160-1 to communicationdevices 385-1.

Other base stations, antenna interfaces, and antenna elements operate ina similar manner.

FIG. 4 is an example diagram illustrating generation of secondconfiguration settings according to embodiments herein.

As previously discussed, conditions of a respective network environmentcan change over time. In accordance with further embodiments, toaccommodate ever-changing network environment conditions (such as changein number of users, change in density of users in a wireless region,change in wireless bandwidth requirements, etc.), the base stationcontroller hardware 140 redefines use of the radio communicationhardware 130 and antenna hardware 150 to provide different wirelesscoverage in the network environment 100 depending on current networkconditions as indicated by feedback 107. Thus, via the base stationcontroller hardware, embodiments herein include: dynamically adjustingthe configuration settings applied to the radio communication hardwareto change a number of the multiple base stations instantiated by theradio communication hardware over time.

Assume that the feedback 107 indicates an increase in the number ofmobile communication devices in the angular range between 0 and 180degrees at or around time T2. In response to detecting a need toinstantiate another base station, the base station controller hardware140 generates configuration settings 110-2 to provide second wirelessservices to one or more (stationary or mobile) communication devicespresent in network environment 100.

For example, in one embodiment, prior to generating configurationsettings 110-2, the base station controller hardware 140 determines howmany base stations to instantiate in network environment 100. In thisexample embodiment, assume that the base station controller hardware 140produces the configuration settings 110-2 to support four base stations,namely, base station 120-2, 120-3, 120-4, and 120-5. In this exampleembodiment, previous instantiated base station 120-1 is split into twonew base stations 120-4 and 120-5.

In a similar manner as previously discussed, for each base station to beinstantiated, the base station controller 140 selects an appropriategrouping of antenna elements in antenna hardware 150 to provide acorresponding group of communication devices connectivity to a remotenetwork 190. The antenna elements in antenna hardware 150 are located atdifferent physical position in an array. Controlling phases of drivingan assigned grouping of antenna elements and controlling phases ofreceived signals from the antenna elements enables a respective basestation to transmit and receive wireless communications in a particularwireless coverage region.

More specifically, in this example embodiment, the base stationcontroller 140 selects a grouping of antenna elements A15, A16, and A26from the antenna hardware 150 to provide wireless connectivity tocommunication devices 585-4 in wireless coverage region 160-4 in thenetwork environment 100; the base station controller hardware 140assigns the grouping of antenna elements A15, A16, and A26 andcorresponding antenna interface 132-4 to base station 120-4 to enablethe base station 120-4 to communicate with the communication devices585-4 in the wireless coverage region 160-4 (sector angle 0 to 90degrees).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-4 (such as one or moreresources in radio communication hardware 130) as specified by the basestation controller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity betweenthe instantiated base station 120-4 and corresponding antenna elementsA15, A16, and A26 assigned for use by base station 120-4. Accordingly,via the antenna interface 132-4, the instantiated base station 120-4 isable to transmit to and receive communications from communicationdevices 585-4 in wireless coverage region 160-4 (between 0 and 90degrees).

Further in this example embodiment, the base station controller 140selects a grouping of antenna elements A51, A61, and A62 of antennahardware 150 to provide connectivity to communication devices 585-2 in asecond wireless coverage region 160-2 in the network environment 100;the base station controller hardware 140 assigns the grouping of antennaelements A51, A61, and A62 and antenna interface 132-2 to base station120-2 to enable the base station 120-2 to communicate with thecommunication devices 585-2 in the second wireless coverage region 160-2(second sector).

The antenna interface 132-2 (one or more resources in radiocommunication hardware 130) as specified by the base station controllerhardware 140 provides hardware connectivity between instantiated basestation 120-2 and corresponding antenna elements A51, A61, and A62assigned for use by base station 120-2. Accordingly, via the antennainterface 132-2, the base station 120-2 is able to transmit to andreceive communications from communication devices 585-2 in wirelesscoverage region 160-2 (between 180 and 270 degrees).

Further in this example embodiment, the base station controller 140selects a grouping of antenna elements A56, A65, and A66 of antennahardware 150 to provide connectivity to communication devices 585-3 in athird wireless coverage region 160-3 in the network environment 100; thebase station controller hardware 140 assigns the grouping of antennaelements A56, A65, and A66 and antenna interface 132-3 to the basestation 120-3 to enable the base station 120-3 to communicate with thecommunication devices 585-3 in the third wireless coverage region 160-3(third sector).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-3 (one or more resources inradio communication hardware 130) as specified by the base stationcontroller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity between basestation 120-3 and corresponding antenna elements A56, A65, and A66assigned for use by base station 120-3. Accordingly, via the antennainterface 132-3, the instantiated base station 120-3 is able to transmitto and receive communications from communication devices in wirelesscoverage region 160-3 (between 270 and 360 degrees).

Further in this example embodiment, the base station controller 140selects grouping of antenna elements A11, A12, and A21 of antennahardware 150 to provide connectivity to communication devices 585-5 inwireless coverage region 160-5 in the network environment 100; the basestation controller hardware 140 assigns the grouping of antenna elementsA11, A12, and A21 and antenna interface 132-5 to base station 120-5 toenable the base station 120-5 to communicate with the communicationdevices 585-5 in the wireless coverage region 160-5 (fifth sector).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-5 (one or more resources inradio communication hardware 130) as specified by the base stationcontroller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity betweeninstantiated base station 120-5 and corresponding antenna elements A11,A12, and A21 assigned for use by base station 120-2. Accordingly, viathe antenna interface 132-5, the base station 120-5 is able to transmitto and receive communications from communication devices in wirelesscoverage region 160-5 (between 90 and 180 degrees).

In addition to selecting antenna elements and different regions ofwireless coverage, the base station controller hardware 140 as discussedherein can be configured to select additional operating parameters suchas one or more carrier frequencies to be used by each of theinstantiated base stations 120. The carrier frequencies can be selectedfrom a group of available carrier frequencies CF1, CF2, CF3, CF4, etc.

As previously discussed, the base station controller hardware 140 can beconfigured to assign a less than maximum power level to a base station(such as base station 120-3 in this instance) in order to avoid orreduce interference with other base stations and communication devicesin a particular direction (such as between 270 and 360 degrees).

FIG. 5 is an example diagram illustrating a second implementation of aconfigurable wireless network according to embodiments herein.

Subsequent to generation of the configuration settings 110-2, at oraround time T2, the base station controller hardware 140 or othersuitable resource applies the configuration settings 110-2 to the radiocommunication hardware 130 to provide the allocated wireless coverage asspecified by wireless coverage regions 160-2, 160-3, 160-4, and 160-5and sector coverage angles.

As previously discussed, the configuration settings 110-2 definephysical connectivity between the base stations and different groupingsof antenna elements.

In this example embodiment, in accordance with the configurationsettings 110-2, the base station controller hardware 140 instantiatesbase station 120-2, base station 120-3, base station 120-4, and basestation 120-5 in the configurable base station hardware 134 of radiocommunication hardware 130 as indicated by the configuration settings110-2. As previously discussed, the configuration settings 110-2indicate the different resources (such as computer processor hardware,memory, software instructions, etc.) to be used to implement each of the(virtual) base stations.

Additionally, the base station controller hardware 140 or other suitableresource applies the configuration settings 110-2 to the configurableconnection hardware 132 of the radio communication hardware 130 toprovide the physical connectivity (as well as transmit/receivecapability) between the base stations and assigned groupings of antennaelements in antenna hardware 150.

For example, via instantiation of antenna interface 132-2 inconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-2 transmitsand receives wireless communications over assigned antenna elements A51,A61, and A62; via instantiation of antenna interface 132-3 viaconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-3 transmitsand receives wireless communications over assigned antenna elements A56,A65, and A66; via instantiation of antenna interface 132-4 viaconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-4 transmitsand receives wireless communications over assigned antenna elements A15,A16, and A26; via instantiation of antenna interface 132-5 inconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-5 is able totransmit and receive wireless communications over assigned antennaelements A11, A12, and A21.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram illustrating generation of thirdconfiguration settings according to embodiments herein.

As previously discussed, conditions of a respective network environmentcan change over time. In accordance with further embodiments, toaccommodate ever-changing network environment conditions (such as changein number of users, change in density of users in a wireless region,change in wireless bandwidth requirements, etc.), the base stationcontroller hardware 140 redefines use of the radio communicationhardware 130 and antenna hardware 150 to provide different wirelesscoverage in the network environment 100 depending on current networkconditions as indicated by feedback 107.

Assume that the feedback 107 indicates a decrease in the number ofmobile communication devices or wireless bandwidth needed in the angularrange between 90 and 270 degrees. At or around time T3, in response todetecting a need to consolidate base stations 120-2 and 120-5, the basestation controller hardware 140 generates configuration settings 110-3to provide third wireless services to one or more (stationary or mobile)communication devices present in network environment 100.

For example, in one embodiment, prior to generating configurationsettings 110-3, the base station controller hardware 140 determines howmany base stations to instantiate in network environment 100. In thisexample embodiment, assume that the base station controller hardware 140produces the configuration settings 110-3 to support three basestations, namely, base station 120-3, 120-4, and 120-6. As mentioned,the prior instantiated base stations 120-2 and 120-5 are consolidatedinto base station 120-6.

In a similar manner as previously discussed, for each base station to beinstantiated, the base station controller 140 selects an appropriategrouping of antenna elements in antenna hardware 150 to provide acorresponding group of communication devices connectivity to a remotenetwork 190. In one embodiment, the antenna elements in antenna hardware150 are located at different physical positions in an array. Controllingphases of driving an assigned grouping of antenna elements andcontrolling phases of received signs from the antenna elements enables arespective base station to transmit and receive wireless communicationsin a particular wireless coverage region.

More specifically, in this example embodiment, the base stationcontroller 140 selects a grouping of antenna elements A15, A16, and A26from the antenna hardware 150 to provide wireless connectivity tocommunication devices 785-4 in wireless coverage region 160-4 in thenetwork environment 100; the base station controller hardware 140assigns the grouping of antenna elements A15, A16, and A26 andcorresponding antenna interface 132-4 to base station 120-4 to enablethe base station 120-4 to communicate with the communication devices785-4 in the wireless coverage region 160-4 (sector angle 0 to 90degrees).

The antenna interface 132-4 and its corresponding attributes (such asone or more resources in radio communication hardware 130) as specifiedby the base station controller hardware 140 provides hardwareconnectivity between the instantiated base station 120-4 andcorresponding antenna elements A15, A16, and A26 assigned for use bybase station 120-4. Accordingly, via the antenna interface 132-4, theinstantiated base station 120-4 is able to transmit to and receivecommunications from communication devices 785-4 in wireless coverageregion 160-4 (between 0 and 90 degrees).

Further in this example embodiment, the base station controller 140selects a grouping of antenna elements A56, A65, and A66 of antennahardware 150 to provide connectivity to communication devices 785-3 in athird wireless coverage region 160-3 in the network environment 100; thebase station controller hardware 140 assigns the grouping of antennaelements A56, A65, and A66 and antenna interface 132-3 to the basestation 120-3 to enable the base station 120-3 to communicate with thecommunication devices 785-3 in the third wireless coverage region 160-3(third sector).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-3 (one or more resources inradio communication hardware 130) as specified by the base stationcontroller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity between basestation 120-3 and corresponding antenna elements A56, A65, and A66assigned for use by base station 120-3. Accordingly, via the antennainterface 132-3, the instantiated base station 120-3 is able to transmitto and receive communications from communication devices 785-3 inwireless coverage region 160-3 (between 270 and 360 degrees).

Further in this example embodiment, the base station controller 140selects a grouping of antenna elements A21, A31, A41, and A51 of antennahardware 150 to provide connectivity to communication devices 785-6 inwireless coverage region 160-6 in the network environment 100; the basestation controller hardware 140 assigns the grouping of antenna elementsA21, A31, A41, and A51 and antenna interface 132-6 to base station 120-6to enable the base station 120-6 to communicate with the communicationdevices 785-6 in the wireless coverage region 160-6 (sixth sector).

Instantiation of the antenna interface 132-6 (one or more resources inradio communication hardware 130) as specified by the base stationcontroller hardware 140 provides hardware connectivity betweeninstantiated base station 120-6 and corresponding antenna elements A21,A31, A41, and A51 assigned for use by base station 120-6. Accordingly,via the antenna interface 132-6, the base station 120-6 is able totransmit to and receive communications from communication devices 785-6in wireless coverage region 160-6 (between 90 and 270 degrees).

In addition to selecting antenna elements and different regions ofwireless coverage, the base station controller hardware 140 as discussedherein can be configured to select additional operating parameters suchas one or more carrier frequencies to be used by each of theinstantiated base stations 120. The carrier frequencies can be selectedfrom a group of available carrier frequencies CF1, CF2, CF3, CF4, etc.

As previously discussed, the base station controller hardware 140 can beconfigured to assign a less than maximum power level to a base station(such as base station 120-3 in this instance) in order to avoid orreduce interference with other base stations and communication devicesin a particular direction (such as between 270 and 360 degrees).

FIG. 7 is an example diagram illustrating a third implementation of aconfigurable wireless network according to embodiments herein.

Subsequent to generation of the configuration settings 110-3, at oraround time T3, the base station controller hardware 140 or othersuitable resource applies the configuration settings 110-3 to the radiocommunication hardware 130 to provide the allocated wireless coverage asspecified by wireless coverage regions 160-3, 160-4, and 160-6 andsector coverage angles.

As previously discussed, the configuration settings 110-3 definephysical connectivity between the base stations and different groupingsof antenna elements.

In this example embodiment, in accordance with the configurationsettings 110-3, the base station controller hardware 140 instantiatesbase station 120-3, base station 120-4, and base station 120-6 in theconfigurable base station hardware 134 of radio communication hardware130 as indicated by the configuration settings 110-3. As previouslydiscussed, the configuration settings 110-3 indicate the differentresource (such as computer processor hardware, memory, softwareinstructions, etc.) to be used to implement each of the (virtual) basestations.

Additionally, the base station controller hardware 140 or other suitableresource applies the configuration settings 110-3 to the configurableconnection hardware 132 of the radio communication hardware 130 toprovide the physical connectivity (as well as transmit/receivecapability) between the base stations and assigned groupings of antennaelements in antenna hardware 150.

For example, via instantiation of antenna interface 132-3 inconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-2 transmitsand receives wireless communications over assigned antenna elements A56,A65, and A66; via instantiation of antenna interface 132-4 viaconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-4 transmitsand receives wireless communications over assigned antenna elements A15,A16, and A26; via instantiation of antenna interface 132-6 viaconfigurable connection hardware 132, the base station 120-6 transmitsand receives wireless communications over assigned antenna elements A21,A31, A41, and A51.

FIG. 8 is an example block diagram of a computer system for implementingany of the operations as previously discussed according to embodimentsherein.

Any of the resources (such as base station controller hardware 140,radio communication hardware 130, configurable connection hardware 132,configurable base station harder 134, antenna hardware 150, one or morecommunication devices, etc.) as discussed herein can be configured toinclude computer processor hardware and/or corresponding executableinstructions to carry out the different operations as discussed herein.

As shown, computer system 850 of the present example includes aninterconnect 811 that couples computer readable storage media 812 suchas a non-transitory type of media (which can be any suitable type ofhardware storage medium in which digital information can be stored andretrieved), a processor 813 (computer processor hardware), I/O interface814, and a communications interface 817.

I/O interface(s) 814 supports connectivity to repository 880 and inputresource 892.

Computer readable storage medium 812 can be any hardware storage devicesuch as memory, optical storage, hard drive, floppy disk, etc. In oneembodiment, the computer readable storage medium 812 stores instructionsand/or data.

As shown, computer readable storage media 812 can be encoded withcommunication management application 140-1 (e.g., includinginstructions) to carry out any of the operations as discussed herein.

During operation of one embodiment, processor 813 accesses computerreadable storage media 812 via the use of interconnect 811 in order tolaunch, run, execute, interpret or otherwise perform the instructions inmanagement application 540-1 stored on computer readable storage medium812. Execution of the communication management application 140-1produces communication management process 140-2 to carry out any of theoperations and/or processes as discussed herein.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the computer system 850can include other processes and/or software and hardware components,such as an operating system that controls allocation and use of hardwareresources to execute communication management application 140-1.

In accordance with different embodiments, note that computer system mayreside in any of various types of devices, including, but not limitedto, a mobile computer, a personal computer system, a wireless device, awireless access point, a base station, phone device, desktop computer,laptop, notebook, netbook computer, mainframe computer system, handheldcomputer, workstation, network computer, application server, storagedevice, a consumer electronics device such as a camera, camcorder, settop box, mobile device, video game console, handheld video game device,a peripheral device such as a switch, modem, router, set-top box,content management device, handheld remote control device, any type ofcomputing or electronic device, etc. The computer system 850 may resideat any location or can be included in any suitable resource in anynetwork environment to implement functionality as discussed herein.

Functionality supported by the different resources will now be discussedvia flowcharts in FIGS. 9-10. Note that the steps in the flowchartsbelow can be executed in any suitable order.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart 900 illustrating an example method according toembodiments. Note that there will be some overlap with respect toconcepts as discussed above.

In processing operation 910, the base station controller hardware 140(such as via execution of communication management application 140-1)generates configuration settings 110 to control radio communicationhardware 130 coupled to antenna hardware 150. The antenna hardware 150includes multiple antenna elements (such as A11, A12, . . . , A21, A22,. . . ) to wirelessly communicate in network environment 100.

In processing operation 920, the base station controller hardware 140applies the configuration settings 110 to the radio communicationhardware 130 to define instantiation of the multiple base stations 120and corresponding wireless coverage 160 provided by each of multiplebase stations 120 in network environment 100.

In processing operation 930, the multiple base stations 120 instantiatedby the base station controller hardware 140 in the radio communicationhardware 130 provide multiple communication devices in the networkenvironment access to a remote network 190. As previously discussed, inone embodiment, the configuration settings 110 indicate settings toapply to the configurable base station harder 134 to instantiatecorresponding (virtual) base stations 120. Additionally, theconfiguration settings 110 indicate settings to apply to theconfigurable connection hardware 132 to instantiate correspondingantenna interfaces (132-1, 132-2, etc.), providing control/communicationpaths between the base stations and groupings of antenna elements.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart 1000 illustrating an example method according toembodiments. Note that there will be some overlap with respect toconcepts as discussed above.

In processing operation 1010, the base station controller hardware 140produces first configuration settings 110-1 (configuration information)to define a first grouping of base stations 120 (such as base stations120-1, 120-2, and 120-3) and corresponding first wireless coverage 160(such as wireless coverage 160-1, 160-2, and 160-3). The firstconfiguration settings 110-1 indicate different groupings of antennaelements selected from available antenna hardware 150 to provide firstwireless services.

In processing operation 1020, the base station controller hardware 140applies the first configuration settings 110-1 to the antenna hardware150 to provide the first wireless services in the wireless networkenvironment 100.

In processing operation, the base station controller hardware 140detects a change in network conditions such as based on feedback 107.Feedback 107 can be received from any suitable resource such as basestations 120, communication devices, etc.

In processing operation 1040, the base station controller hardware 140produces second configuration settings 110-2 to define a second groupingof base stations 120 (such as base station 120-2, 120-3, 120-4, and120-5) and corresponding second wireless coverage 160 (such as wirelesscoverage 160-2, 160-3, 160-4, and 160-5). The second configurationsettings 110-2 indicate different groupings of antenna elements selectedfrom the available antenna hardware 150 to provide the second wirelessservices.

In processing operation 1050, the base station controller hardware 140applies the second configuration settings 110-2 to the antenna hardware150 to provide the second wireless services in the network environment100.

As an example of this embodiment, with reference back to FIG. 3 andcorresponding configuration settings 110-2 in FIG. 2, the base stationcontroller hardware 140 is operable to produce first configurationsettings 110-1 (configuration information) to define a first grouping ofbase stations and corresponding first wireless coverage; the firstconfiguration settings 110-1 indicate different groupings of antennaelements selected from available antenna hardware 150 to provide firstwireless services. As previously discussed, in accordance with theconfiguration settings 110-2, the radio communication hardware 130 andantenna hardware 150 applies the first configuration information toprovide the first wireless services in the wireless network environment100.

In response to detecting a change in network conditions based onfeedback 107 such as indicating an increased number of mobilecommunication devices in a wireless network environment 100, toaccommodate the increased number of mobile communication devices, thebase station controller hardware 140 produces second configurationinformation 110-2 (FIG. 4) to define a second grouping of base stationsand corresponding second wireless coverage; the second configurationsettings indicate different groupings of antenna elements selected fromthe available antenna hardware to provide second wireless services (FIG.5). The radio communication hardware 130 and antenna hardware 150 applythe second configuration information 110-2 to provide the secondwireless services in the network environment.

In one embodiment, the first grouping of base stations (base station120-1, 120-2, 120-3) in configuration settings 110-1 (FIG. 2) specifiesa different number of base stations than the second grouping of basestations (120-2, 120-3, 120-4, 120-5) in configuration settings 110-2(FIG. 4). The first wireless coverage provided by configuration settings110-1 is different than the second wireless coverage provided byconfiguration settings 110-2.

FIG. 11 is an example diagram illustrating a transceiver(transmitter-receiver) interface according to embodiments herein.

In this example embodiment, in accordance with configuration settings110-1 of FIG. 2, the base station 120-1 is assigned use of antennaelements A12, A13, A14, and A15.

In one embodiment, the configurable connection hardware 132 includes atransmitter interface and a receiver interface coupled to each antennaelement. Via configurable connection hardware 132, each antenna elementcan be assigned for use by any of the respective base stations.

More specifically, antenna element A11 is coupled to transmitterinterface 360-11 and receiver interface 370-11 of configurableconnection hardware 132. Transmitter interface 360-11 drives antennaelement A11 to transmit a wireless signal; antenna element A11 convertsreceived wireless signals into electrical signals conveyed to receiverinterface 370-11.

Antenna element A12 is coupled to transmitter interface 360-12 andreceiver interface 370-12 of configurable connection hardware 132.Transmitter interface 360-12 drives antenna element A12 to transmit awireless signal; antenna element A12 converts received wireless signalsinto electrical signals conveyed to receiver interface 370-12.

Antenna element A13 is coupled to transmitter interface 360-13 andreceiver interface 370-13 of configurable connection hardware 132.Transmitter interface 360-13 drives antenna element A13 to transmit awireless signal; antenna element A13 converts received wireless signalsinto electrical signals conveyed to receiver interface 370-13.

Antenna element A14 is coupled to transmitter interface 360-14 andreceiver interface 370-14 of configurable connection hardware 132.Transmitter interface 360-14 drives antenna element A14 to transmit awireless signal; antenna element A14 converts received wireless signalsinto electrical signals conveyed to receiver interface 370-14.

Antenna element A15 is coupled to transmitter interface 360-15 andreceiver interface 370-15 of configurable connection hardware 132.Transmitter interface 360-15 drives antenna element A15 to transmit awireless signal; antenna element A15 converts received wireless signalsinto electrical signals conveyed to receiver interface 370-15.

Antenna element A16 is coupled to transmitter interface 360-16 andreceiver interface 370-16 of configurable connection hardware 132.Transmitter interface 360-16 drives antenna element A16 to transmit awireless signal; antenna element A16 converts received wireless signalsinto electrical signals conveyed to receiver interface 370-16.

In a similar manner, each antenna element is coupled to a correspondingtransmitter interface/receiver interface.

As previously discussed, each antenna element can be dynamicallyassigned for use by any instantiated base station. In this exampleembodiment, such as based on FIGS. 2 and 3 and correspondingconfiguration settings 110-1, the base station 120-1 in FIG. 11 isassigned use of antenna elements A12, A13, A14, and A15. Antennainterface 132-1 is assigned (as indicated by configuration settings110-1) to provide connectivity of the instantiated base station 120-1 tothe corresponding antenna elements A12, A13, A14, and A15 as shown inFIG. 11. Via connectivity provided by antenna interface 132-1, andcorresponding circuitry such as transmitter interface 360-12, 360-13,360-14, etc., 370-12, 370-13, 370-14, etc.), the base station 120-1 isable to transmit and receive wireless communications using antennaelements A12, A13, A14, and A15. As previously discussed, phases ofreceived and transmitted signals are controlled to provide directivityof the generated/received wireless signals in the respective wirelesscoverage region 160-1.

Note again that techniques herein are well suited to facilitate dynamicimplementation of base stations, antenna elements, and allocation ofwireless bandwidth in a network environment. However, it should be notedthat embodiments herein are not limited to use in such applications andthat the techniques discussed herein are well suited for otherapplications as well.

Based on the description set forth herein, numerous specific detailshave been set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimedsubject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in theart that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, methods, apparatuses, systems, etc., thatwould be known by one of ordinary skill have not been described indetail so as not to obscure claimed subject matter. Some portions of thedetailed description have been presented in terms of algorithms orsymbolic representations of operations on data bits or binary digitalsignals stored within a computing system memory, such as a computermemory. These algorithmic descriptions or representations are examplesof techniques used by those of ordinary skill in the data processingarts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.An algorithm as described herein, and generally, is considered to be aself-consistent sequence of operations or similar processing leading toa desired result. In this context, operations or processing involvephysical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, although notnecessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magneticsignals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared orotherwise manipulated. It has been convenient at times, principally forreasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values,elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals or the like. Itshould be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms areto be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merelyconvenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparentfrom the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout thisspecification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,”“computing,” “calculating,” “determining” or the like refer to actionsor processes of a computing platform, such as a computer or a similarelectronic computing device, that manipulates or transforms datarepresented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities withinmemories, registers, or other information storage devices, transmissiondevices, or display devices of the computing platform.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreferences to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentapplication as defined by the appended claims. Such variations areintended to be covered by the scope of this present application. Assuch, the foregoing description of embodiments of the presentapplication is not intended to be limiting. Rather, any limitations tothe invention are presented in the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A system comprising: antenna hardware including multipleantenna elements to wirelessly communicate in a network environment;radio communication hardware coupled to the antenna hardware, the radiocommunication hardware in communication with a remote network, the radiocommunication hardware including multiple base stations andreconfigurable connection hardware; a controller operable to generateconfiguration settings, the configuration settings: i) being applied tothe reconfigurable connection hardware, and ii) defining connectivityprovided by the reconfigurable connection hardware between the multiplebase stations and the multiple antenna elements, the connectivitycontrolling corresponding wireless coverage provided by the multiplebase stations in the network environment, the multiple base stationsproviding multiple communication devices in the network environmentaccess to the remote network; the multiple antenna elements of theantenna hardware being co-located at a central location as amulti-antenna element grouping that provides wireless directivity ofsignals in outward directions from the multi-antenna grouping into ageographical region in which the multiple communication devices reside;wherein the multiple base stations include a first base station and asecond base station operative to control different groupings of antennaelements in the antenna hardware; wherein the different groupings ofantenna elements include a first portion of the antenna elements and asecond portion of the antenna elements; wherein the first base stationdrives the first portion of antenna elements, the first portion of theantenna elements providing a first angular region of wireless coveragewith respect to the central location; and wherein the second basestation drives the second portion of the antenna elements, the secondportion of the antenna elements providing a second angular region ofwireless coverage with respect to the central location.
 2. The system asin claim 1, wherein the controller is further operable to generate theconfiguration settings to define the multiple base stations and theconnectivity provided by the reconfigurable connection hardwaredepending on locations of the multiple communication devices in thenetwork environment.
 3. The system as in claim 1, wherein theconnectivity coupes the first base station of the radio communicationhardware to the first portion of the antenna elements; and wherein theconnectivity couples the second base station of the radio communicationhardware to the second portion of the antenna elements.
 4. The system asin claim 3, wherein the first angular region of wireless coverage andthe second angular region of wireless coverage are non-overlapping withrespect to each other.
 5. The system as in claim 1, wherein thecontroller is operable to dynamically adjust the configuration settingsto change a number of the antenna elements that are selected to bedriven by a respective base station over time via the reconfigurableconnection hardware.
 6. The system as in claim 1, wherein theconfiguration settings indicate the portion of the antenna elementsassigned to the first base station of the multiple base stations; andwherein the configuration settings indicate the second portion of theantenna elements assigned to the second base station of the multiplebase stations.
 7. The system as in claim 1, wherein the configurationsettings indicate the first portion of the antenna elements assigned tothe first base station of the multiple base stations; wherein theconfiguration settings indicate the second portion of the antennaelements assigned to the second base station of the multiple basestations; wherein the connectivity couples the first base station to thefirst portion of antenna elements, the first base station operable towirelessly communicate from the first portion of the antenna elementsover a first carrier frequency; and wherein the connectivity couples thesecond base station to the second portion of antenna elements, thesecond base station operable to wirelessly communicate from the secondportion of the antenna elements over a second carrier frequency.
 8. Thesystem as in claim 1, wherein the multi-antenna grouping is disposed inthe geographical region, the communication devices residing in differentradial directions from the multi-antenna grouping.
 9. The system as inclaim 1, wherein the antenna hardware is a multi-dimensional array ofantenna elements, different groupings of which output different wirelesssignals from the multiple base stations depending on the connectivitybetween the multiple base stations and the different groupings asdefined by the configuration settings.
 10. The system as in claim 1,wherein the configuration settings define different groupings of antennaelements which output different wireless signals from the multiple basestations depending on the connectivity between the multiple basestations and the groupings as defined by the configuration settings. 11.The system as in claim 10, wherein the reconfigurable connectionhardware couples the first base station to the first portion of antennaelements as specified by the configuration settings, the first antennaportion of antenna elements transmitting a first wireless signalradially outward from the antenna hardware; and wherein thereconfigurable connection hardware couples the second base station tothe second portion of antenna elements as specified by the configurationsettings, the second portion of the antenna elements transmitting asecond wireless signal radially outward from the antenna hardware. 12.The system as in claim 11, wherein the first of the antenna elementstransmits the first wireless signal in a first radial direction outwardfrom the antenna hardware; wherein the second portion of antennaelements transmits the second wireless signal in a second radialdirection outward from the antenna hardware; and wherein the secondradial direction is different than the first radial direction.
 13. Thesystem as in claim 12, wherein the first wireless signal is transmittedoutward from the antenna hardware in accordance with a first beam-width;and wherein the second wireless signal is transmitted outward from theantenna hardware in accordance with a second beam-width, which isdifferent than the first beam-width.
 14. The system as in claim 1,wherein the reconfigurable connection hardware provides reconfigurableand selectable connectivity between each of the multiple base stationsand each of the multiple antenna elements.
 15. The system as in claim 1,wherein the configuration settings include first configuration settingsand second configuration settings; wherein the first configurationsettings define first connectivity between the first base station of themultiple base stations and a first less-than-all portion of the antennaelements during a first window of time; and wherein the secondconfiguration settings define second connectivity between the first basestation and a second less-than-all portion of the antenna elementsduring a second window of time, the second less-than-all portion of theantenna elements being different than the first less-than-all portion ofthe antenna elements.
 16. The system as in claim 1, wherein theconfiguration settings include first configuration settings and secondconfiguration settings; wherein the first configuration settings definefirst connectivity of the reconfigurable connection hardware between thefirst base station of the multiple base stations and the first portionof the antenna elements during a first window of time, the first portionincluding a first antenna element of the antenna elements; and whereinthe second configuration settings define second connectivity of theconnection hardware between the second base station of the multiple basestations and the second portion of the antenna elements during a secondwindow of time, the second portion including the first antenna elementof the antenna elements.
 17. The system as in claim 1, wherein theconfiguration settings specify a first transmit power level at which thefirst portion of antenna elements transmit first wireless signals; andwherein the configuration settings specify a second transmit power levelat which the second portion of antenna elements transmit second wirelesssignals, the first transmit power level being greater than the secondtransmit power level.
 18. The system as in claim 1, wherein the antennahardware is disposed at a center of the geographical region providingwireless services to the multiple communication devices.
 19. The systemas in claim 1, wherein the antenna hardware is a multi-dimensional arrayof antenna elements including a first array of antenna elements and asecond array of antenna elements, the first array of antenna elementssupporting wireless signals in a first beamforming direction outwardwith respect to the antenna hardware, the second array of antennaelements supporting wireless signals in a second beamforming directionoutward with respect to the antenna hardware.
 20. The system as in claim19, wherein the first array of antenna elements is parallel to thesecond array of antenna elements.
 21. The system as in claim 19, whereinthe first array of antenna elements is orthogonal to the second array ofantenna elements.
 22. The system as in claim 1, wherein thereconfigurable connection hardware provides selective connectivity ofthe first base station to each of the multiple antenna elements of theantenna hardware at the central location; and wherein the reconfigurableconnection hardware provides selective connectivity of the second basestation to each of the multiple antenna elements of the antenna hardwareat the central location.
 23. The system as in claim 1, wherein themultiple antenna elements are individually re-assignable to each of themultiple base stations via the reconfigurable connection hardware.
 24. Amethod comprising: generating configuration settings to control radiocommunication hardware coupled to antenna hardware, the antenna hardwareincluding multiple antenna elements to wirelessly communicate in anetwork environment; applying the configuration settings to the radiocommunication hardware, the configuration settings specifyingconnectivity between multiple base stations and the multiple antennaelements, the connectivity defining corresponding wireless coverageprovided by the multiple base stations in a network environment; and viathe multiple base stations, providing multiple communication devices inthe network environment access to a remote network, the multiple antennaelements being co-located at a central location as a multi-antennaelement grouping that provides wireless directivity of signals inoutward directions from the multi-antenna grouping into a geographicalregion in which the multiple communication devices reside; wherein themultiple base stations include a first base station and a second basestation operative to control different groupings of antenna elements inthe antenna hardware; wherein the different groupings of antennaelements include a first portion of the antenna elements and a secondportion of the antenna elements, the method further comprising: via afirst base station, driving the first portion of antenna elements, thefirst portion of the antenna elements providing a first angular regionof wireless coverage with respect to the central location; and via thesecond base station, driving the second portion of the antenna elements,the second portion of the antenna elements providing a second angularregion of wireless coverage with respect to the central location. 25.The method as in claim 24, wherein applying the configuration settingsincludes: instantiating the multiple base stations in the radiocommunication hardware in accordance with the configuration settings,the configuration settings indicating a respective different grouping ofthe antenna elements assigned for use by each of the multiple basestations.
 26. The method as in claim 25, wherein the wireless coverageprovided by the multiple base stations as defined by the configurationsettings are non-overlapping with respect to each other.
 27. The methodas in claim 24, wherein generating configuration settings includes:generating the configuration settings to define attributes of themultiple base stations and corresponding wireless coverage depending onlocations of the multiple communication devices in the networkenvironment.
 28. The method as in claim 24, wherein generating theconfiguration setting includes: selecting the first portion of antennaelements from the antenna hardware to provide first wireless coverage inthe network environment; assigning the first portion of antenna elementsto the first base station of the radio communication hardware; selectingthe second portion of the antenna elements from the antenna hardware toprovide second wireless coverage in the network environment; andassigning the second portion of antenna elements to the second basestation of the radio communication hardware.
 29. The method as in claim28, wherein applying the configuration settings to the radiocommunication hardware includes: applying the configuration settings tothe radio communication hardware to provide connectivity between thefirst base station and the first portion of antenna elements; applyingthe configuration settings to the radio communication hardware toprovide connectivity between the second base station and the secondportion of antenna elements; and wherein the first wireless coverage andthe second wireless coverage are non-overlapping with respect to eachother.
 30. The method as in claim 24 further comprising: via thecontroller, dynamically adjusting the configuration settings applied tothe radio communication hardware to change a number of the multiple basestations instantiated by the radio communication hardware over time. 31.The method as in claim 24, wherein generating configuration settings tocontrol the radio communication hardware includes: i) producing theconfiguration settings to indicate the first portion of the antennaelements assigned to the first base station of the multiple basestations, and ii) producing the configuration settings to indicate thesecond portion of the antenna elements assigned to the second basestation of the multiple base stations, the method further comprising:controlling the first portion of the antenna elements to transmit at asame wireless power level as the second portion of the antenna elements.32. The system as in claim 24, wherein generating configuration settingsto control the radio communication hardware includes: i) producing firstconfiguration settings indicating that a first antenna element of theantenna hardware is included in a first set of antenna elements assignedfor use by the first base station of the multiple base stations for afirst duration of time, and ii) producing second configuration settingsindicating that the first antenna element is included in a second set ofantenna elements assigned for use by the second base station of themultiple base stations for a second duration of time.
 33. The system asin claim 24 further comprising: in response to receiving input toinstantiate a new base station in addition to the multiple base stationsvia the radio communication hardware: i) allocating an unused portion ofthe multiple antenna elements in the antenna hardware to the new basestation; and ii) controlling reconfigurable connectivity hardware toinstantiate connectivity between the new base station and the unusedportion of the multiple antenna elements allocated to the new basestation.
 34. The system as in claim 24, wherein generating configurationsettings to control the radio communication hardware includes: i)allocating a first antenna element of the antenna hardware to a firstbase station of the multiple base stations for a first duration of time,and ii) re-allocating the first antenna element to the second basestation of the multiple base stations for a second duration of time. 35.Computer-readable storage hardware having instructions stored thereon,the instructions, when carried out by computer processor hardware, causethe computer processor hardware to: generate configuration settings tocontrol radio communication hardware coupled to antenna hardware, theantenna hardware including multiple antenna elements to wirelesslycommunicate in a network environment, the multiple antenna elementsbeing co-located at a central location as a multi-antenna elementgrouping that provides wireless directivity of signals in outwarddirections from the multi-antenna grouping into a geographical region inwhich multiple communication devices reside; apply the configurationsettings to the radio communication hardware, the configuration settingsdefining corresponding wireless coverage provided by multiple basestations in a network environment; and via the multiple base stationsand the multiple antenna elements of the antenna hardware, provide themultiple communication devices in the network environment access to aremote network; wherein the multiple base stations include a first basestation and a second base station operative to control differentgroupings of antenna elements in the antenna hardware; wherein thedifferent groupings of antenna elements include a first portion of theantenna elements and a second portion of the antenna elements; whereinthe first base station drives the first portion of antenna elements, thefirst portion of the antenna elements providing a first angular regionof wireless coverage with respect to the central location; and whereinthe second base station drives the second portion of the antennaelements, the second portion of the antenna elements providing a secondangular region of wireless coverage with respect to the centrallocation.
 36. A system comprising: antenna hardware including multipleantenna elements to wirelessly communicate in a network environment;radio communication hardware coupled to the antenna hardware, the radiocommunication hardware in communication with a remote network, the radiocommunication hardware including multiple base stations andreconfigurable connection hardware; and a controller operable togenerate configuration settings, the configuration settings: i) beingapplied to the reconfigurable connection hardware, and ii) definingconnectivity provided by the reconfigurable connection hardware betweenthe multiple base stations and the multiple antenna elements, theconnectivity controlling corresponding wireless coverage provided by themultiple base stations in the network environment, the multiple basestations providing multiple communication devices in the networkenvironment access to the remote network; wherein the configurationsettings include first configuration settings and second configurationsettings; wherein the first configuration settings define firstconnectivity of the reconfigurable connection hardware between a firstbase station of the multiple base stations and a first portion of theantenna elements during a first window of time, the first portionincluding a first antenna element of the antenna elements; and whereinthe second configuration settings define second connectivity of theconnection hardware between a second base station of the multiple basestations and a second portion of the antenna elements during a secondwindow of time, the second portion including the first antenna elementof the antenna elements; wherein the controller is further operable toproduce the second configuration settings as a replacement to the firstconfiguration settings in response to receiving feedback associated withthe network environment indicating changing network conditions; whereinthe radio communication hardware includes reconfigurable base stationhardware in which the multiple base stations are instantiated; whereinthe first configuration settings define attributes of the first basestation; and wherein the second configuration settings define attributesof the second base station.
 37. A system comprising: antenna hardwareincluding multiple antenna elements to wirelessly communicate in anetwork environment; radio communication hardware coupled to the antennahardware, the radio communication hardware in communication with aremote network, the radio communication hardware including multiple basestations and reconfigurable connection hardware; a controller operableto generate configuration settings, the configuration settings: i) beingapplied to the reconfigurable connection hardware, and ii) definingconnectivity provided by the reconfigurable connection hardware betweenthe multiple base stations and the multiple antenna elements theconnectivity controlling corresponding wireless coverage provided by themultiple base stations in the network environment, the multiple basestations providing multiple communication devices in the networkenvironment access to the remote network; the multiple antenna elementsof the antenna hardware being co-located at a central location as amulti-antenna element grouping that provides wireless directivity ofsignals in outward directions from the multi-antenna grouping into ageographical region in which the multiple communication devices reside;wherein the multiple base stations include a first base station and asecond base station operative to control different groupings of antennaelements in the antenna hardware; wherein the configuration settingsspecify first wireless power settings applied to a first set of themultiple antenna elements of the antenna hardware used by the first basestation to communicate with first mobile communication devices in thegeographical region; and wherein the configuration settings specifysecond wireless power settings applied to a second set of the multipleantenna elements of the antenna hardware used by the second base stationto communicate with second mobile communication devices in thegeographical region.
 38. A system comprising: antenna hardware includingmultiple antenna elements to wirelessly communicate in a networkenvironment; radio communication hardware coupled to the antennahardware, the radio communication hardware in communication with aremote network, the radio communication hardware including multiple basestations and reconfigurable connection hardware; a controller operableto generate configuration settings, the configuration settings: i) beingapplied to the reconfigurable connection hardware, and ii) definingconnectivity provided by the reconfigurable connection hardware betweenthe multiple base stations and the multiple antenna elements theconnectivity controlling corresponding wireless coverage provided by themultiple base stations in the network environment, the multiple basestations providing multiple communication devices in the networkenvironment access to the remote network; the multiple antenna elementsof the antenna hardware being co-located at a central location as amulti-antenna element grouping that provides wireless directivity ofsignals in outward directions from the multi-antenna grouping into ageographical region in which the multiple communication devices reside;wherein the configuration settings include first configuration settingsand second configuration settings; wherein the controller is furtheroperable to produce the second configuration settings as a replacementto the first configuration settings in response to receiving feedbackassociated with the network environment indicating changing networkconditions; wherein the first configuration settings define firstconnectivity of the reconfigurable connection hardware between a firstbase station of the multiple base stations and a first portion of theantenna elements during a first window of time, the first portionincluding a first antenna element of the antenna elements; and whereinthe second configuration settings define second connectivity of theconnection hardware between a second base station of the multiple basestations and a second portion of the antenna elements during a secondwindow of time.
 39. The system as in claim 38, wherein the secondportion includes the first antenna element of the antenna elements. 40.A system comprising: antenna hardware including multiple antennaelements to wirelessly communicate in a network environment; radiocommunication hardware coupled to the antenna hardware, the radiocommunication hardware in communication with a remote network, the radiocommunication hardware including multiple base stations andreconfigurable connection hardware; a controller operable to generateconfiguration settings, the configuration settings: i) being applied tothe reconfigurable connection hardware, and ii) defining connectivityprovided by the reconfigurable connection hardware between the multiplebase stations and the multiple antenna elements the connectivitycontrolling corresponding wireless coverage provided by the multiplebase stations in the network environment, the multiple base stationsproviding multiple communication devices in the network environmentaccess to the remote network; the multiple antenna elements of theantenna hardware being co-located at a central location as amulti-antenna element grouping that provides wireless directivity ofsignals in outward directions from the multi-antenna grouping into ageographical region in which the multiple communication devices reside;wherein the antenna hardware is a multi-dimensional array of antennaelements including a first array of antenna elements and a second arrayof antenna elements, the first array of antenna elements supportingwireless signals in a first beamforming direction outward with respectto the antenna hardware, the second array of antenna elements supportingwireless signals in a second beamforming direction outward with respectto the antenna hardware; and wherein the multiple base stations includea first base station and a second base station, the first base stationoperative to control wireless communications from the first array ofantenna elements, the second base station operative to control wirelesscommunications from the second array of antenna elements.
 41. The systemas in claim 40, wherein the first array of antenna elements isorthogonal to the second array of multiple antenna elements.